Vacationless slaves make the best employees

[Taro Toporific]

Workers use less than half of paid holidays
The Asahi Shimbun, Nov 2
Employees may have dodged the bullet during corporate downsizing, but they've become so shell-shocked they now take less than half of their paid leave-a paltry 8.5 days a year on average, according to a government survey.
In 2003, full-time workers at companies with 30 or more employees took an average of 47.4 percent of the paid holidays they were entitled to, or 8.5 days, says the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
The percentage is the lowest since the ministry started compiling the statistics in 1980. ....more...

[Neo-Rio]

The main problem is that not only do workers get very little holiday time, that the holiday time they DO get has to be at certain periods when their employers/customers allow it!

So it's all well and great that you get your pathetically small 8 days a year, but even better when your superiors say "You have a contract to work 160 hours a month" and there's no way in hell you can make that monthly contract limit if you have a few days off in a row. In fact, to make hour-limits like that you have to put in overtime anyway.

Japanese companies have to give paid leave, but they sure as hell get nasty when you want to try using it.